In findings released this week that are based on a CANHR complaint, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) cited the Motion Picture Home for violating the rights of dozens of residents it has moved since January 2009. Currently the home of about 80 skilled nursing residents, The Motion Picture Home is a 189 bed skilled nursing facility in Woodland Hills that is operated by the Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF).
In January 2009, the MPTF shocked residents by announcing plans to close the landmark skilled nursing facility it has operated for decades. Fortunately, the Motion Picture Home has survived the MPTF’s misguided plan to close it due to the impassioned and successful campaign by Saving the Lives of Our Own, a grass-roots coalition of residents, families, community members and entertainment industry workers who are determined to preserve the historic facility and prevent the eviction of its residents from their home.
Although the Motion Picture Home remains open, it illegally transferred dozens of its residents to other skilled nursing facilities in the months following the January 2009 closure announcement. In defiance of the law and its relocation plan, its managers did not notify any residents of their rights, including their right to appeal, before moving them. The MPTF filed a relocation plan with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) in January 2009 that promised it would comply with California and federal laws that require it to issue written transfer notices at least 30 days before any residents were transferred or discharged.
CANHR’s complaint documents that the Motion Picture Home’s managers knowingly defied the law. CDPH verified that the Motion Picture Home did not issue the required notice to a single resident and ignored its relocation plan.
In trampling on the civil rights of its elderly residents, the MPTF has given itself a black eye. Taking advantage of elderly nursing home residents and subjecting them to potential transfer trauma is a particularly cruel form of elder abuse. Due to their age and poor health, nursing home residents are often traumatized when they are moved away from familiar caregivers, roommates and surroundings, especially when they are moved against their will.The MPTF is not above the law. CANHR calls on it to immediately notify all of the surviving residents it has moved, in writing, of their transfer and discharge rights, and offer each of them the choice to return to the Motion Picture Home if they so desire.